Roots 657 Cafe & Local Market — Restaurant in Virginia

My brother plays disc golf out on Leesburg and has brought me food from Roots a few times. I love their brisket sandwich, so when I was in the area this past weekend, of course I had to stop in.

The cafe itself is very cute, with a kind of general store inside hosting lots of local products, including jams, honey, and alcoholic products. Lots of interesting things, so take your time to look around! They have plenty of seating indoors but they also have a spacious and well lit outdoor patio with a field. Nice place to hang out.

We got there at about 7:15, so it was a little over an hour from closing time. A group of 3-4 young staff were crowded around the register chit-chatting. They were so obviously unhappy to see us and one rolled their eyes as we walked in. I get it, close to closing, but they were borderline rude. No smiles or greetings or explanations. We put in the order and the cashier sighed and scoffed throughout. We had to repeat questions because they'd ignore them. Very poor service overall, and it was a little shocking for me.

We ordered the burger and beef brisket sandwich, with a side of fries and a side of mac&cheese. Their card machine wasn't working - I tried tapping the card then inserted the chip but it didn't work, and at one point, the cashier snatched my card from my hand without asking for it and tried to use it. I ended up paying cash just to cut the interaction short.

The food came out about 10-15 mins later. We were seated outside and a different staff member was kind enough to bring it out to us - that person was kind and gave great service.

On to the food. The burger was great, if a little overseasoned, with generous amounts of lettuce and tomatoes. Patties were juicy and I really enjoyed it. Fries were fresh and hot. The brisket on the other hand was nothing like I remembered it. Burnt end bits, like the trimmings from brisket, (I like burnt end though if done right) and super, super dry. There was no juiciness left. I had to soak it in sauce to make it edible. The mac&cheese portion was woefully small, but I didn't like it anyway so that was fine.

It was weird because I was there with friends, and they ordered the same thing - they had double the mac&cheese portion and their brisket sandwiches used thick slabs of proper brisket. All in all, my experience was strange and I can't help but decide to not come back. I know they can do better and this visit in particular was very...

The 3 times I have placed an online order ahead order, the "printer" didn't print out the order and the kitchen did not make the order so I have to wait for the food to be prepared once I get there to pick it up at the time that it was supposed to be ready. Glad to have a place to eat in Lucketts, the prices are very high though, which I can handle once in a while but it does feel some like it is not worth the cost. They used to have home made ketchup, which they did not the last time I was there. . atmosphere is really nice though, and it is an enjoyable place to eat and I enjoy looking at the art and merchandise. This is a good place to stop if you're visiting the area and want the experience, but not necessarily a hang out, order your food for dinner every day kind of place. Also, I once got a salad and I was highly disappointed. The greens tasted so strange, like the kind that I don't enjoy (spring mix) from costco. I think there is only that one option for the lettuce for their salads which is disappointing bc I'd like to try other salads that don't have gross spring mix and is truly worth the high cost I am paying for it. The fixings on the salad were very bland and basic, nothing set it apart from something I could make in 45 seconds at home. Also have gotten Jr burger for my son and the patty was clearly not fresh meat patties burger, it was something that had been frozen and pattied out and bought like from Costco. Again. Ok. But it is expensive. It feels like a rip off. If you want to charge so much for your food, then you need to have the goods to match the pricing .. or else ... Charge less - bc a Costco party darn sure doesn't cost $10-$15 and that's one heck of a profit...

Good, but waaay too expensive, which means I likely won't be back.

Following up on a recent review, I went to Roots 657 Cafe for lunch. I ordered to go, and after a short wait, my bag of goodies was brought out, and I left.

I ordered wings and a pound of pulled pork. Total for both: $43.45. The wings were about $3 each. The pork was $1.37 an ounce.

Why am I complaining? The pork price per pound was not posted, and I did not ask--because I simply did not expect to pay $22 a pound for it. Shame on me.

In general, it appeared to me that virtually everything in the store was higher priced than it would have been elsewhere. Wines I can buy for $25ish at their local wineries were in the high $30s and $40s.

Look, I have run a business. I know about pricing and the need to make enough money to stay in business--extraspecially in one of the most economically challenging times since the Great Depression. And I don't begrudge the owner his/her choice in that regard. But I have never paid that much for either wings or pork anywhere else in my life. And that's a lotta bbq and wings.

Quality? Very good. The wings were unique and I liked them a lot. Smoked, and crispy all over, they did not need any sauce at all. Superb.

Pulled pork. Good, but not $22 a pound good.

The marinated slaw side? You have two slaw choices, mayo based, and marinated. The slaw was the best I have ever had, and my favorite of everything from Roots 657 . I would love to have a quart of it in the fridge. And I might go back for that if I'm in the neighborhood. But next time, I'll...